Valentine Heart
Valentine Day Project.
When the weather turns cold and you’re bundled in every lap blanket you can find, that is when it is time to break out some new crochet projects. Christmas season is over, but for the crafty crocheter, this is the perfect time to work on projects you looked at and saved the pattern for later. When the snow howls and it is not safe to go out, grab the yarn stash and hooks and get started. I love to put on some movie from long ago, one I know all the words to, recall all the jokes and all the best parts, and start quietly working on projects that I’m not in a dead rush to finish. Too many times during the Christmas season, there just seem to be so many projects left undone as I plunge into last minute gifts.
This year the infamous “polar vortex” descended and there was nothing for it but to bundle up on the couch and dig up those patterns I was meaning to do but kept putting off. This time I wanted to recreate a project that I had made years ago for my husband, I really had fun when I first made this project and that’s the best part of crochet in my mind, the recreation of old projects.
I took the Red Heart pattern for crocheted heart shaped box with crocheted candies here (http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/crochet-box-chocolates) . This is really a fun pattern and it is perfect for Valentine’s Day as a gift or decoration for the holiday. After a few starts and stops and a lot of taking out and starting over I finally got it.
The pattern calls for a size F and size E hooks and that is fine, but years ago I made this same pattern for my husband for Valentine’s Day and I used a bigger hook for the heart box. The candies are really quick and even after a few of the patterns making different ones and adjusting the decorations on the chocolates it becomes a really personalized gift for someone.
It’s cute as a decoration and goes well with a little girl’s tea party. Make sure you keep your eye on the candies because if you drop one it becomes a toy for the cats.
I think though I would prefer to use plastic canvas instead of cardboard if I make anymore of these, but cardboard works well. You could also use that chipboard that are used in some scrapbook projects for the cardboard base of the heart.
For the heart box Red Heart Super Saver or Hobby Lobby Crafter’s Secret work equally as well for the pattern. The Chocolates you can use the soft Red Heart Luster Sheen or Hobby Lobby Yarn Bee Soft Secret were the yarns I used. Sure the pattern calls for certain colors, but you could make all of the chocolates as white chocolate, or dark chocolate, caramels or a mix of them all. Have fun with this. Eventually though you will have to stop making chocolates or their will be so many they won’t fit in the box. That would be a good time to then break out a pattern for a little bowl to set these out for decorations.
This really was a fun and enjoyable project and if you have little to do on a cold day, it’s even better while watching “Miss Congeniality,” or “Legally Blonde”, “Karate Kid” or maybe “Big Trouble in Little China.” In my case I had the entire boxed set of all six seasons of “Xena” and so I went on a binge-watching spree and crocheted the polar vortex out of mind (except when the temperatures dropped to -22 Fahrenheit and I had all the kids bundle up downstairs for the night). I kept a mug of cocoa or coffee nearby and calmly crocheted away and in a few days, I had this little gem to show you.
What Projects have you worked on during the winter after the Holidays? Did you make a Valentine of some type. Whether it’s crochet or a card let me know what you’ve been up to.
Remember to always remember and never forget, be a Flamboyantly, amazing Flamingo.
